Can you beat England?
You can definitely beat England.
You can't be naive to the fact of who England are. They've won...? I don't know the number, it's quite a lot of games (in a row - 27). They have a lot of X-factor players. They're well rehearsed. They have a great maul. They are a great team. They are the world No.1 for a reason. We know they are a great team. But the beauty of rugby is a ball can bounce a different way. Things can happen. You never know.
And so we've been preparing the best we can, and we take confidence in who we are as a team, the X-factors that we have in our game plan as well.
We played them in WXV (in 2024) and for 70 minutes we were within one or two scoring opportunities of them.
Rugby is beautiful in that way and we are confident in who we are and what we can do and we are hoping to show that.
How do you beat them?
You go about it how you would play any other team. You focus on yourself and what you do well and how you can exploit that.
We know the obvious strengths they bring and we will see how we can keep those at bay and also; where do their weaknesses lie and how can we exploit them?
How is your squad feeling?
I think what’s exciting about the US is we’re ranked 10th (in the world) at the moment but I don’t believe we are a 10th-placed team. You’ve seen glimpses and moments of beautiful rugby and world-class rugby, and what’s exciting is we just need to get that cohesion and get that transfer from all the hard work we have been doing off the pitch to transfer onto the pitch.
How does it feel to be kicking-off such a momentous tournament?
Getting to play in the opening match of a World Cup against a host nation is nothing more than exciting.
We recognise that obviously England are ranked No.1 and they have been performing really well but you go to a World Cup to win a World Cup and if you want to be the best you have to play the best.
The crowd sounds like it is going to be huge. Nothing more than excitement for that.
What is the support like back home?
We have way more fans and people following us and supporting us, and in many different ways.
It's great to see the growth in women's rugby in America, not only from your fans and people following you, but from young girls that are starting to see that and wanting to pick up a ball or wanting to learn how to play.
That's inspiring, because it's one of the reasons that motivates me to play. Knowing what rugby has done for me in terms of my confidence, my body confidence... and to know that another young girl could see that and have that same experience, where rugby could show them and help give them confidence in who they are and give them a safe space where they can be themselves, I think that's really cool to see.
Does this tournament feel different?
This is my fourth World Cup and I have seen the growth of the game, especially at the World Cups, from 2014-2017. And New Zealand (RWC 2021) was a great World Cup. But honestly, I think this will top it.
I’ve had the honour of playing in England in the PWR (top league) for the past few years and I’ve seen the growth. England has spearheaded a lot of the growth for women’s rugby which is really cool to see.
Having it in this country is only going to inspire more nations and more people to keep growing the game.
